Intelligent generation and distribution of an encoded content transport stream according to metadata

ABSTRACT

There is provided a method and system for generating and distributing an encoded content transport stream. The method comprises obtaining metadata and at least one unique identifier that identifies content elements, generating a recipient specific list using the metadata and at least one of the unique identifiers, creating a content transport stream using the recipient specific list including the metadata and the identified content elements, encoding the content transport stream to generate the encoded content transport stream, and distributing the encoded content transport stream through at least one network path. The metadata may include destination points and priority information of the encoded content transport stream, which may take the form of sections of television programming or block of commercial advertisements.

BACKGROUND

Television programs, live sports, and other media content are deliveredto consumers from broadcast and cable networks through regional, sales,or other affiliate endpoints. The broadcast and cable networks mustchoose the various versions of the media content to be delivered to theaffiliate based on time zones, market clearances, regionalization, orother criteria. The broadcast and cable networks are further required tochoose transport paths to ensure the media content arrives concurrentlyand efficiently. Therefore, the broadcast and cable networks mustprocess a wide variety of data, ranging from regional commercialscheduling, time zone delays, sport clearances, and transport pathhealth, to name a few, before the media content is delivered toaffiliates.

At present, broadcast and cable networks require coordination ofmultiple systems in order to properly process and transmit the mediacontent to affiliates. Often this is done manually by the broadcast andcable networks. Therefore, switching of the media content or thetransport path must be controlled manually after observation of theaffiliate needs. Furthermore, affiliates are often required to manuallycontact or otherwise alert the broadcast and cable networks if change isrequired. Thus, for example, continual adjustment must be made if atransport stream is impaired and media content is not arriving at theaffiliate correctly or efficiently.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to intelligent generation anddistribution of an encoded content transport stream according tometadata, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection withat least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 presents a block diagram of an exemplary system generation anddistribution of an encoded content transport stream according tometadata;

FIG. 2 presents a more detailed example of one implementation of asystem for generation of an encoded content transport stream accordingto metadata;

FIG. 3 presents a more detailed example of one implementation of asystem for distribution of an encoded content transport stream accordingto metadata;

FIG. 4 presents an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method forgeneration and distribution of an encoded content transport stream,according to one implementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description contains specific information pertaining toimplementations in the present disclosure. The drawings in the presentapplication and their accompanying detailed description are directed tomerely exemplary implementations. Unless noted otherwise, like orcorresponding elements among the figures may be indicated by like orcorresponding reference numerals. Moreover, the drawings andillustrations in the present application are generally not to scale, andare not intended to correspond to actual relative dimensions.

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of one exemplary implementation of a system forgenerating and distributing an encoded content transport stream frommetadata. As shown in FIG. 1, system environment 100 includes processor112 and memory 110 storing unique identifiers 120 composed of programschedules and clearances 122 and commercial scheduling 124, transportstream creator 130 composed of rules engine 132, recipient specific list(RSL) analyzer 134, and RSL processor engine 136, as well as networkdirector 150 and network path 180. Also shown in FIG. 1 are metadataengine 142 and content 140.

System environment 100 illustrates a simplified system for generatingand distributing an encoded content stream from metadata. Thus,alternative implementations may support multiple systems or servers forbalancing and/or reduced latency. Furthermore, as used herein, aprocessor, such as processor 112, may refer to a single processor or acollection of more than one processor, e.g. microprocessor or a hardwareprocessor. Similarly, memory 110 may refer to a single memory or acollection of more than one memory, such as a non-transitory memory orcomputer storage.

According to the implementation of FIG. 1, processor 112 may accessmemory 110 to execute transport stream creator 130 and network director150. Processor 112 may execute rules engine 132 of transport streamcreator to obtain metadata from metadata engine 142 and uniqueidentifiers 120 (UID) identifying media content. Metadata engine 142 mayprocess information from content 140. Content 140 may correspond to acontent cloud containing media content, such as television mediacontent, movie media content, recorded live media content, sports mediacontent, music media content, or other media content. Metadata engine142 may process content 140 and contain metadata related to thedestination points of an encoded content transport stream, priority datato determine the priority of utilizing/playing an encoded contenttransport stream, an interrupt command to stop another encoded contenttransport stream, a name or location of an affiliate that receives theencoded content transport stream, a time to play the encoded contenttransport stream, a name of the encoded content transport stream,contents of the encoded content transport stream, or other metadatacorresponding to the encoded content transport stream.

Unique identifiers 120 may contain program schedules 122 and commercialscheduling 124. Each unique identifier contained in unique identifiers120 may identify a media content by scheduling requirements. Thus,program schedules 122 may correspond to unique identifiers 120identifying programming media content, such as television, movie, musicvideo, or audio programming content, by time schedules of programmingmedia content, such as a regional time schedule for a broadcast channelsmedia content, a national channel schedule for a national movie channel,a pay-per-view schedule of a pay-per-view channel, or other schedulinginformation corresponding to programming media content. Similarly,commercial scheduling 124 may correspond to unique identifiersidentifying commercial media content, such as commercial advertisements,by regional advertising, national advertising, commercial scheduling, orother metadata corresponding to commercial media content.

After processor 112, executing rules engine 132 of transport streamcreator 130, obtains metadata from metadata engine 142 and at least oneUID 120, rules engine 132 may generate a recipient specific list (RSL)using the metadata and at least one UID 120. Next, processor 112 mayexecute RSL analyzer 134 of transport stream creator 130 to determine atleast one RSL processor engine 136 to execute. After, processor 112 mayexecute RSL processor engine 136 of transport stream creator 130 tocreate and encode an encoded content transport stream using content fromcontent 140. Processor 112 may then execute network director 150 todetermine network path 180 to transmit the encoded media content stream.

Turning now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 provides a more detailed representation ofone implementation of a transport stream creator 230 for use ingenerating an encoded content transport stream. As shown in FIG. 2,system environment 200 includes processor 212 and memory 210 storing UID220 composed of program schedules and clearances 222 and commercialscheduling 224, traffic operations 226, transport stream creator 230composed of rules engine 232, RSL analyzer 234, RSL processor engine #1236 a, RSL processor engine #2 236 b, and RSL processor engine #3 236 c,as well as network director 250. Also shown in FIG. 2 are metadataengine 242 and content 240.

According to the implementation of FIG. 2, processor 212 may accessmemory 210 in order to execute transport stream creator 230 and networkdirector 250. Processor 212 may execute rules engine 232 of transportstream creator 230 to obtain unique identifiers 220 and metadata frommetadata engine 242. Processor 212 may also execute traffic operations226. Traffic operations 226 may receive data from commercial schedules224. As discussed in reference to FIG. 1, commercial scheduling 224 maycorrespond to UID's 220 identifying commercial media content by regionaladvertising, national advertising, commercial scheduling, or othermetadata corresponding to commercial content. Traffic operations 226 maythen use information corresponding to commercial scheduling 224 to formcommercial scheduling metadata, such as commercial times, locations, orother commercial scheduling metadata. Processor 212 executing rulesengine 232 may then obtain commercial scheduling metadata from trafficoperations 226. Thus, traffic operations 226 may process information ofcommercial scheduling metadata from commercial scheduling 224 UID's forrules engine 232. Processor 212 may then execute rules engine to combinethe information received from metadata engine 242 and traffic operations226 as metadata for use with at least one UID 220 to create a RSL.

Continuing in FIG. 2, once rules engine 232 has created an RSL,processor 212 executing transport stream creator 230 will run RSLanalyzer 234. RSL analyzer 234 may review the RSL and determine a numberof RSL processor engines 236 a/236 b/236 c to process the RSL. RSLanalyzer 234 may determine the number of RSL engines depending onpriority of the RSL, cost to process the RSL, requirements of the RSL,workload of transport stream creator 230, or other factors. In FIG. 2,RSL processor engine #1 236 a, RSL processor engine #2 236 b, and RSLprocessor engine #3 236 c are shown by way of example. However, aspreviously discussed RSL analyzer 234 may determine more or less RSLprocessor engines are required based upon processing requirements of theRSL, backup requirements, affiliate requirements, or other requirementinformation.

Once RSL analyzer 234 of FIG. 2 determines a number of RSL processorengines 236 a/236 b/236 c to use, such as RSL processor engine #1 236 a,RSL processor engine #2 236 b, and RSL processor engine #3 236 c,processor 212 executing transport stream creator 230 may run RSLprocessor engine #1 236 a, RSL processor engine #2 236 b, and RSLprocessor engine #3 236 c to create an encoded content transport streamfrom the RSL. RSL processor engine #1 236 a, RSL processor engine #2 236b, and RSL processor engine #3 236 c may process an RSL and use at leastone UID 220 found in the RSL to identify content from content 240. UID's220 may identify recorded content from content 240, such as recordedtelevision programs, movies, music videos, audio, recorded sportsprograms, recorded commercial advertising, or any other contentpreviously discussed in reference to unique identifiers 220. RSLprocessor engine #1 236 a, RSL processor engine #2 236 b, and RSLprocessor engine #3 236 c may then combine the content from content 240,and the metadata contain in the RSL to create the encoded contenttransport streams.

Finishing with FIG. 2, processor 212 executing transport stream creator230 may then execute network director 250 to determine network path 280.Network director 250 is discussed in more detail with reference to FIG.3.

Continuing to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 presents a more detailed representation ofone implementation of a network stream director 350 for distributing anencoded content transport stream. System environment 300 of FIG. 3includes processor 312 and memory 310 containing transport streamcreator 330 and network director 350. Also shown in FIG. 3 are content340, live content 344, live content encoding 346, health of distributionchannels monitoring 360, monitoring and control 370, network path 380 a,network path 380 b, network path 380 c, and roll now command 390.

Processor 312 may execute transport stream creator 330 to create anencoded content transport stream as discussed in reference to FIGS. 1and 2. As shown in FIG. 2, three encoded content transport streams arecreated. However, and as discussed above, more or less encoded contenttransport streams may be created. After creating the three encodedcontent transport streams, processor 312 may execute network director350 to distribute the encoded content transport streams. Processor 312executing network director 350 may receive information of path selectioncriteria to determine how many of network path 380 a, network path 380b, and network path 380 c and which of network path 380 a, network path380 b, and network path 380 c to use to distribute the encoded contenttransport stream. Furthermore, while network path 380 a, network path380 b, and network path 380 c are shown in FIG. 3, it is understood thatmore or less network paths may be available to and/or required bynetwork director 350 to distribute the encoded content transportstreams.

Live content 344 may send data of live content to live content encoding346 for immediate distribution. Live content encoding 346 may encodelive content 344 to create encoded live content. The encoded livecontent may be sent to content 340 for storage and later use. However,live content encoding 346 may also send encoded live content to networkdirector 350 for distribution. Thus, processor 312 executing networkdirector 350 may receive encoded live content from live content encoding346 and distribute along network paths 380 a/380 b/380 c.

Processor 312 executing network director 350 may receive data from rollnow command 390. Roll now command 390 may correspond to an executablecommand to play a specific encoded content transport stream, such as onecontaining commercial advertising content, priority content, or otherspecified content at the present time or some future time. Thus, forexample, roll now command 390 may determine a specific encoded contenttransport stream should be given priority over another encoded contenttransport stream currently being distributed.

In another implementation, network director 350 may be receiving encodedlive content from live content encoding 346. Therefore, roll now command390 may determine breaks, such as commercial breaks, to place in theencoded live content if encoded live content is currently beingdistributed. Roll now command 390 may also correspond to an executablecommand to play encoded live content from live content encoding 346,such as a live interrupt, placed into an encoded content transportstream currently being distributed. Thus, for example, a live interruptof breaking news may be placed into a television or commercial encodedcontent transport stream.

Network director 350 may receive information from health of distributionchannels monitoring 360. Information from health of distributionchannels 360 may include information corresponding to bandwidth ofnetwork path 380 a, network path 380 b, and network path 380 c, delayinvolved in network path 380 a, network path 380 b, and network path 380c, reliability of network path 380 a, network path 380 b, and networkpath 380 c, cost of distribution on network path 380 a, network path 380b, and network path 380 c, affiliate preference of network path 380 a,network path 380 b, and network path 380 c, or any other informationrelevant in determining which of network path 380 a, network path 380 b,and network path 380 c to use in distributing the encoded contenttransport streams or the encoded live content.

Network director 350 may also receive information from monitoring andcontrol 370. Information from monitoring and control 370 may includefurther information used by network director 350 to determine theavailability and status of network path 380 a, network path 380 b, andnetwork path 380 c. Thus, monitoring and control can assist networkdirector 350 in further determining which of network path 380 a, networkpath 380 b, and network path 380 c to use in distributing the encodedcontent transport streams or the encoded live content.

Thus, as described above, network director 350 may receive informationnecessary to distribute the encoded content transport stream on networkpath 380 a, network path 380 b, and network path 380 c. Such informationmay come from metadata contained in the RSL, or sources such as livecontent encoding 346, health of distribution channels monitoring 360,monitoring and control 370, roll now command 390 or other sources.

Once an encoded content transport stream arrives at an affiliateendpoint, the affiliate endpoint may act as a distribution point anddistribute content contained in the encoded content transport stream toconsumers. An affiliate endpoint may determine which encoded contenttransport stream to give priority based on metadata contained in theencoded content transport streams and/or live content encoding. Afterchoosing an encoded content transport stream, the affiliate endpoint maythen decode the encoded content transport stream into video contentand/or audio content for distribution. Thus, affiliate endpoints maycontrol priority and transmission of content, such as televisionprogramming, live content, or commercial advertising, based on themetadata transmitted from network director 350 in the encoded contenttransport streams and/or live content encoding. In another embodiment,the affiliate endpoint may also choose to transmit the content toconsumers as they see fit.

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 will now be further discussed by reference to FIG. 4,which presents flowchart 400 describing an exemplary flowchartillustrating a method for generation and distribution of an encodedcontent transport stream according to metadata. With respect to themethod outlined in FIG. 4, it is noted that certain details and featureshave been left out of flowchart 400 in order not to obscure thediscussion of the inventive features of the present application.

Referring to FIG. 4 in combination with FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3,flowchart 400 begins with obtaining metadata and at least one uniqueidentifier 120/220 (UID) from a memory 110/210/310, the at least one UIDidentifying a corresponding at least one content element (410). Theobtaining may correspond to processor 112/212/312 utilizing rules engine132/232 of transport stream creator 130/230/330 to receive metadata frommetadata engine 142/242 and at least one UID 120/220 identifying atleast one content element. For example, in one implementation, processor112/212 may access memory 110/210 and execute rules engine 132/232 toobtain the metadata and at least one UID 120/220.

Flowchart 400 continues by generating a recipient specific list (RSL)using the metadata and the at least one UID (420). The generating may beperformed by rules engine 132/232 of transport stream creator130/230/330, under the control of processor 112/212/312. The RSL maycorrespond to a playlist of media content including at least one UID120/220 and metadata from metadata engine 142/242. As previouslydiscussed, UID 120/220 may identify corresponding content elements fromcontent 140/240/340. Furthermore, as previously discussed, metadata maycontain metadata corresponding to content 140/240/340. Metadata maycorrespond to metadata used in directing an encoded content transportstream to the correct affiliate. Metadata may include metadata relatedto playtime, duration, priority, or other content related metadata.

The method of flowchart 400 continues by creating at least one contenttransport stream using the RSL, the at least one content transportstream including the metadata and the corresponding at least oneidentified content elements (430). Creation of the at least one contenttransport stream using the RSL may be performed by RSL analyzer 134 withRSL processor engine 136 transport stream creator 130, under control ofprocessor 112. The creation of the at least one content transport streamusing the RSL may also be performed by RSL analyzer 234 with RSLprocessor engine #1 236 a, RSL processor engine #2 236 b, and RSLprocessor engine #3 236 c, of transport stream creator 230, undercontrol of processor 212. As shown in FIG. 1, processor 112 may utilizeRSL analyzer 134 to determine at least one RSL processor engine 136 tocreate the content transport stream using the RSL. However, as shown inFIG. 2, processor 212 may execute RSL analyzer 234 to determine RSLprocessor engine #1 236 a, RSL processor engine #2 236 b, and RSLprocessor engine #3 236 c is required to create three content transportstreams using the RSL. While three RSL processor engines 236 a/236 b/236c are shown in FIG. 2, it is understood that more or less RSL processorengines may be required to create the at least one content transportstream from the RSL. The number of RSL processor engines utilized bytransport stream creator 130/230 may depend on workload, accommodationrequirements, priority of the RSL, assembly requirements, importance orpriority of the RSL, or other factors.

Once RSL analyzer 134/234 has determined a number of RSL processorengines (136/236 a/236 b/236 c) to utilize to create the at least onecontent transport stream, RSL processor engines (136/236 a/236 b/236 c)may utilize the at least one UID of the RSL to identify correspondingcontent elements from content 140/240. The RSL processor engines(136/236 a/236 b/236 c) may then create the at least one contenttransport stream using the corresponding at least one content elementsand the metadata contained in the RSL. Thus, the at least one contenttransport stream may contain content elements from content 140/240 andmetadata from metadata engine 142/242.

Flowchart 400 continues with encoding the at least one content transportstream to generate at least one encoded content transport stream (440).The encoding may be performed by RSL processor engine 136 of transportstream creator 130, under control of processor 112. The encoding mayalso be performed by RSL processor engine #1 236 a, RSL processor engine#2 236 b, and RSL processor engine #3 236 c, of transport stream creator230, under control of processor 212. Once the at least one contenttransport stream has been created, RSL processor engines (136/236 a/236b/236 c) may encoded the at least one content transport stream togenerate the at least one encoded content transport stream.

The method of flowchart 400 continues with distributing the at least oneencoded content transport stream through at least one network path180/280/380 a/380 b/380 c (450). Distributing the at least one encodedcontent transport stream may be performed by network director150/250/350, under control of processor 112/212/312. As shown in FIG. 1,processor 112 may execute network director 150 to determine at least onenetwork path 180 to distribute the at least one encoded contenttransport stream. However, as shown in FIG. 3, processor 312 may executenetwork director 350 to determine network path 380 a, network path 380b, and network path 380 c is required to distribute the at least oneencoded content transport stream. As discussed in reference to FIG. 3,network director 150/250/350 may determine the number of network paths180/280/380 a/380 b/380 c to distribute the based on path selectioncriteria determined using metadata from metadata engine 142/242contained in the at least one encoded content transport stream, livecontent encoding 346, health of distribution channels monitoring 360,monitoring and control 370, or another information source.

In this manner, an encoded content transport stream may be generated anddistributed according to metadata corresponding to content stored by amedia content supplier. Therefore, media content may be distributedintelligently with less infrastructure and monitoring of the mediacontent and distribution channels.

From the above description it is manifest that various techniques can beused for implementing the concepts described in the present applicationwithout departing from the scope of those concepts. Moreover, while theconcepts have been described with specific reference to certainimplementations, a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognizethat changes can be made in form and detail without departing from thescope of those concepts. As such, the described implementations are tobe considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Itshould also be understood that the present application is not limited tothe particular implementations described above, but many rearrangements,modifications, and substitutions are possible without departing from thescope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for use by a system including a processor and a memory, the memory having at least one unique identifier (UID) identifying a corresponding at least one content element, for generation and distribution of at least one encoded content transport stream, the method comprising: obtaining, using the processor, metadata and the at least one UID from the memory, the at least one UID identifying the corresponding at least one content element; generating, using the processor, a recipient specific list (RSL) using the metadata and the at least one UID, wherein the RSL corresponds to a playlist of media content for an affiliate endpoint recipient of the encoded content transport stream, and wherein the RSL includes at least a commercial scheduling metadata corresponding to at least a commercial content; delivering the RSL to an RSL analyzer to determine, based on a priority of the RSL, a number of one or more RSL processor engines, wherein determining the number of the one or more RSL processor engines is further based on at least one of a cost to process the RSL, requirements of the RSL, and a workload of a transport stream creator, and wherein the metadata includes priority information for determining the priority of the at least one encoded content transport stream; creating, using the processor, at least one content transport stream using the RSL, the at least one content transport stream including the metadata and the corresponding at least one content element, wherein the metadata includes at least one of a name and a location of the affiliate endpoint recipient; encoding, using the processor, the at least one content transport stream to generate the at least one encoded content transport stream; and distributing, using the processor, the at least one encoded content transport stream through at least one network path to the affiliate endpoint recipient for further distribution by the affiliate endpoint recipient to consumers of the affiliate endpoint recipient; wherein the creating uses the determined number of one or more RSL processor engines, and wherein determining the number of the one or more RSL processor engines is further based on at least one of a cost to process the RSL, requirements of the RSL, and a workload of a transport stream creator, and wherein the metadata includes priority information for determining a priority of the at least one encoded content transport stream.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata includes destination points for the at least one encoded content transport stream.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more RSL processor engines further performs the encoding of the at least one content transport stream.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the distributing of the at least one encoded content transport stream, the method further comprises determining the at least one network path according to one or more path selection criteria.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the corresponding at least one content element includes television programming.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the corresponding at least one content element is one of a movie media content, a sports media content, a recorded live media content, and a music content.
 7. A system for generation and distribution of at least one encoded content transport stream, the system comprising: a memory including: at least one unique identifier (UID), the at least one UID identifying a corresponding at least one content element; a transport stream creator; and a network director; a processor for executing the transport stream creator to: obtain metadata and the at least one UID from the memory; generate a recipient specific list (RSL) using the metadata and the at least one UID, wherein the RSL corresponds to a playlist of media content for an affiliate endpoint recipient of the encoded content transport stream, and wherein the RSL includes at least a commercial scheduling metadata corresponding to at least a commercial content; deliver the RSL to an RSL analyzer to determine, based on a priority of the RSL, a number of one or more RSL processor engines, wherein determining the number of the one or more RSL processor engines is further based on at least one of a cost to process the RSL, requirements of the RSL, and a workload of a transport stream creator, and wherein the metadata includes priority information for determining the priority of the at least one encoded content transport stream; create at least one content transport stream using the RSL, the at least one content transport stream including the metadata and the corresponding at least one content element, wherein the metadata includes at least one of a name and a location of the affiliate endpoint recipient; and encode the at least one content transport stream to generate the at least one encoded content transport stream; wherein the creating uses the determined number of one or more RSL processor engines, and wherein determining the number of the one or more RSL processor engines is further based on at least one of a cost to process the RSL, requirements of the RSL, and a workload of a transport stream creator, and wherein the metadata includes priority information for determining a priority of the at least one encoded content transport stream; a network director, under the control of the processor, configured to: distribute the at least one encoded content transport stream through at least one network path to the affiliate endpoint recipient for further distribution by the affiliate endpoint recipient to consumers of the affiliate endpoint recipient.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the metadata includes destination points for the at least one encoded content transport stream.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more RSL processor engines further performs the encoding of the at least one content transport stream.
 10. The system of claim 7, wherein the network director is further configured to determine the at least one network path according to one or more path selection criteria.
 11. The system of claim 7, wherein the corresponding at least one-content element includes television programming.
 12. The system of claim 7, wherein the corresponding at least one content element is one of a movie media content, a sports media content, a recorded live media content, and a music content.
 13. A system for generation and distribution of at least one encoded content transport stream, the system comprising: a memory including: at least one unique identifier (UID), the at least one UID identifying a corresponding at least one content element; a transport stream creator; an RSL analyzer; at least one RSL processor engines; and a network director; a processor for executing the transport stream creator to: obtain metadata and the at least one UID from the memory; and generate a recipient specific list (RSL) using the metadata and the at least one UID, wherein the RSL corresponds to a playlist of media content for an affiliate endpoint recipient of the encoded content transport stream, and wherein the RSL includes at least a commercial scheduling metadata corresponding to at least a commercial content; the processor further for executing the RSL analyzer to: receive the RSL; and deliver the RSL to an RSL analyzer to determine, based on a priority of the RSL, a number of one or more RSL processor engines, wherein determining the number of the one or more RSL processor engines is further based on at least one of a cost to process the RSL, requirements of the RSL, and a workload of a transport stream creator, and wherein the metadata includes priority information for determining the priority of the at least one encoded content transport stream; create at least one content transport stream using the RSL, the at least one content transport stream including the metadata and the corresponding at least one content element, wherein the metadata includes at least one of a name and a location of the affiliate endpoint recipient; and encode the at least one content transport stream to generate the at least one encoded content transport stream; wherein the creating uses the determined number of one or more RSL processor engines, and wherein determining the number of the one or more RSL processor engines is further based on at least one of a cost to process the RSL, requirements of the RSL, and a workload of a transport stream creator, and wherein the metadata includes priority information for determining a priority of the at least one encoded content transport stream; the processor further for executing the network director to: distribute the at least one encoded content transport stream through at least one network path to the affiliate endpoint recipient for further distribution by the affiliate endpoint recipient to consumers of the affiliate endpoint recipient.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the network director is further configured to determine the at least one network path according to one or more path selection criteria. 